Friday, December 16, 2016

Yet Another Baltic Christmas - Day 16 and the winter solstice

Today
on Day 16 of 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas we welcome Daina, another repeat
contributor to the series! Her post on Latvian Christmas Cards featured some
gorgeous Kalmīte watercolors that I still think of when the holiday
card-writing season begins, however this week she is inspired by the approach
of saulgrieži, which falls on December 21st…

Latvian winters are
traditionally cold and - most of all - dark. In Riga on December 21, the sun
will rise at 9:00am, and set at 3:43pm, which calculates to a mere six hours
and 43 minutes of daylight. Before Latvians were converted to Christianity,
they celebrated winter solstice on the year’s shortest day with festivities
that included songs, food, fire, and various traditions. After all, if you are
experiencing 17+ hours of darkness on a daily basis for several weeks, it seems
only natural to create a celebration to look forward to.

While few Latvians now mark the
winter solstice, it – like all other Latvian holidays – is a joy to celebrate.
Several friends and I do so every year, and while our celebration is quite
traditional, one could also celebrate in a simpler and less traditional way.

The most distinct tradition is bluķa vilkšana, or the pulling of
the Yule log. A heavy rope is tied around a large log, and everyone grabs hold
of the rope, proceeding to pull the log around the house three times. This
action pulls all of the bad spirits, memories, and energies out of the home and
into the log. While pulling the log, everyone sings and makes noise to further
scare off bad spirits.

Once the triple rotation around the abode is done, everyone gathers round the
log and takes turn chopping it. While chopping, each individual deposits their unpleasant
memories and negative experiences from the past year into the log. Afterward,
the log, all the small pieces, and even tiny wood chips that have been chopped
off are burned to rid the world of last year's negativity.

Photo credit: Andris Rūtiņš

Naturally, if one lives in a
townhouse or apartment, the pulling of the Yule log would be difficult to
accomplish, so my suggestion would be to either build a fire in one’s fireplace
and write any unpleasant memories from the past year on slips of paper to burn
in the fire, or to simply fill one’s home with many candles for beautiful
natural light and mentally rid oneself of last year’s negative thoughts. In a
simple modern interpretation, winter solstice could be viewed as a cozy winter
evening to close out the year and begin the transition to longer days, spring,
and – finally – summer solstice!

As with any Latvian
celebration, food plays an integral part of the winter solstice festivities.
Hearty foods such as a pork roast, sauerkraut, potatoes and – of course -
everyone’s favorites: pīrāgi and piparkūkas are often served.

A fire sounds nice! Do any of the stores in your area carry the birch logs imported from Estonia and Latvia, as that would make a perfect addition to celebrate the solstice! Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus, un laimīgu Jauno gadu!

It is rather silly... what is actually a fast-growing, rather cheap wood being transported halfway around the world! But you could still drag your bluķis around the house three times and burn it on the beach?

We would actually be celebrating Midsummer here Liene......Australia really doesn't celebrate as a whole but there would be individual groups/people celebrating I'm sure. I always do honour it though! No fires allowed here on our beach.....sadly! Priecīgus Svētkus!